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Topic: I just saw Hard Eight for the first time (Read 28852 times)

I was kinda dissapointed with this one. It was ok but i thought it needed improving on the pacing. When i saw Sydney speaking i kept thinking of that Seinfeld episode with the Bookman. I guess it was good for a first movie but it really pares in comparison to the rest of PTA's work.

I was a little dissapointed too (on first viewing) having seen it after "Magnolia" and "Boogie Nights", but in no way is it bad. I think he just wanted to start his career off simple. But the dialogue is wonderful.

I was also dissapointed by the movie, but I was happy to see how much PTA learned and evolved after doing that movie until now... it shows how much potential he still has and how great he can be in the future!

Everytime I watch a PTA film with Philip Baker Hall I also remember Mr. Bookman and laugh... that episode of Seinfeld is incredible!

I don't know. I'm disappointed in the disappointment seen here. I mean, I, too, was disappointed in the film the first time I saw it, but I still liked it a lot. PTA's films, though, are films that creep up on you and latch on to you and grow on you. This has always happened to me with all of his films. I love them more and more with each viewing. And this is especially true with Hard Eight. Everything about it is just so perfect to me.

i liked it, and still probably watch it a few times a month. I saw this right after i saw boogie nights in the theater. as soon as i walk out of there...i was like, "wooo, who's this paul guy?"....i rented the video of this a few days later. I loved it, and it's simple sorta nature. All my friends though....hated it. Realize this was all in like ...97'? so gwyneth and samual were just still becoming the mega stars...

I think if i just saw this today.... i would still like it, but i probably woulda been disappoint just excepting it to be so good with the cast it had.

seriously....it's a cheesy kinda trick...but tell me that you weren't just beggin' to see what Sydney walked into during the hotel scene???

I didn't really know anything about the film when I sat down to watch it. It took a couple of minutes to get into the slow pacing but when I did...man, I was blown away.

It dows grow on you with each viewing...and he wrote this in his early 20s...that's amazing. I don't think PTA's a genius the worlds never seen before. I think it's the actors. Great actors make good scripts great. That's what happened.

The hotel room thing when PBH walks in, I think PTA builds up the tension too much. You feel a little bit unsatisfied when you get the pay off. I thought it was going to be something worse.

EDIT: And the two commentaries on the DVD are the best to fall a sleep to. They're interesting and his voice are very "good night story"-ish.I also like when filmmakers asume you're an aspiring filmmaker listening to it. "I fyou don't know what you're writing, just put two people in a coffee shop...". I love that. IT's more personal that way. Silly but true.

I was a bit disappointed, but I realized all my disappointment came from the expectations I had after having watched his other films. if you consider it in itself, without comparing with the other ones, it's a very good movie. it shows a perfect knowledge of the traditional structure that pta is trying to challenge in his following films: if you want to criticise something, you have to do it from the inside...

seriously....it's a cheesy kinda trick...but tell me that you weren't just beggin' to see what Sydney walked into during the hotel scene???

I was, like, "show was what's going on, man! It's easy, just point the camera to whatever is happening and that's it, you fucking cocksmoker!". Ahhhh...... the day I first saw Hard Eight..... it was after I had seen Boogie Nights and Magnolia that I saw it, after spending a couple of weeks trying to desperately know the portuguese title for it. When I did, I watched a lame pan&scan VHS copy and liked it but was somewhat disappointed, because I had seen Boogie Nights and Magnolia not that long ago and was blown away. Then I saw Hard Eight properly, a DVD widescreen copy, and was really able to appreciate the movie better. It's terrific and Philip Baker Hall gives a tremendous performance. Just amazing to me. It's so well written, acted, directed and edited and scored, but it's destined to be one of those movies that will never ever get the recognition they deserve. Great debut.

I can't understand why any human being would ever be disappointed by this film. It's one of the very few perfect movies out there. I guess I'm the only one who thinks it's one of the greatest films ever made. See it again and give it another chance.

And just for the record, the last shot means everything and stands on it's own.

Logged

Typical US Mother: "Remember what the MPAA says; Horrific, Deplorable violence is okay, as long as people don't say any naughty words."

I can't understand why any human being would ever be disappointed by this film. It's one of the very few perfect movies out there.

That's quite the statement. I think you are under more pressure to back that up then those who were dissapointed by the film.

I, too, was dissapointed by the film. So much of the film feels like build up to just giving us a unique flavor to this world then the movie just ends. The ending didn't help me much either because a "revelation" and a "killing" are involved which usually is used in lesser material. The execution of it is fine, but something more thought out could have been used instead because both are plot devices and do intrude to the very organic atmosphere.